Overview
The NCFDD Faculty Success Program is an intense, 12-week, online-based program where participants learn strategies to increase their productivity, gain control of their time, and live a full and healthy life beyond campus. The program is designed to transform the personal and professional life of participants.
The program is intended for tenure-track, tenured, and non-tenure track faculty members who are looking for the perfect combination of empirically tested methods to improve research productivity through intense accountability, coaching, and peer support and to propel their work-life balance and personal growth to a completely new level.
Participation in the NCFDD Faculty Success Program is open to all tenure stream faculty who are active NCFDD Individual and Institutional Members.
Program Outcomes
- Develop an achievable set of personal and professional goals as well as a realistic plan to meet them.
- Develop a consistent, healthy, and sustainable daily writing routine.
- Move forward in developing a publication profile.
- Master best practices in academic time management.
- Develop a set of strategies to move through barriers.
- Nourish physical and emotional health.
- Enjoy a full life beyond campus.
- Participate in an intensely supportive community that processes day-to-day challenges, pushes individuals when they need it, and celebrates members’ successes as they occur.
Session Dates
The NCFDD Faculty Success Program is offered three times per year, 12 weeks per session, approximately on the following schedule:
- FALL Session: August – November (Early/discounted registration date: June)
- SPRING Session: January – April (Early/discounted registration date: October)
- SUMMER Session: end of May – mid-August (Early/discounted registration date: mid-April)
Cost
Standard tuition is $4,750 per participant. Early Bird tuition rate is $4,250, and Priority Registration is $3,950.
Program Scholarships
The Office of the Provost will provide tuition for three faculty members to participate in the Faculty Success Program during each period and $1,500 towards the tuition costs for four additional faculty. We especially invite applications from individuals whose participation will support the university’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals with respect to the retention of faculty from underrepresented groups.
Eligibility
Full-time, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty members at UTK are eligible to apply for tuition support. Faculty may apply for funding in multiple years, but can only receive funds to participate in the Faculty Success Program once.
Faculty who would like to pay their own tuition through start-up or other funding sources are welcome to enroll in the program without financial assistance from the Office of the Provost and should work directly with their department and college to enroll.
Faculty who participate in the program are required to have an individual account with NCFDD. See the NFCDD overview page to learn how to active your account.
Expectations and Requirements for Scholarship Recipients
Faculty who receive funding are expected to complete the Faculty Success Program and to participate in the weekly calls and exercises, as described in the program.
Within a year following completion of the program, recipients either individually or in small groups are expected to share with others in the university community what they learned from their participation in NCFDD’s Faculty Success Program. Sample activities include:
- Facilitate a weekly or monthly writing group with graduate students or faculty in your department or college.
- Host one of NCFDD’s virtual workshops for faculty and students in your department or college. This can be a live virtual workshop, or an on-demand showing of a recorded workshop from NCFDD’s digital library.
- Present to students, staff, or faculty in your department or college, relevant lessons learned from your participation in the program (e.g., time management) via brown-bag or colloquium.
- Lead a workshop or participate in a panel session for campus-wide seminars on related topics organized by campus units.
Application Process
Applications for tuition support are due at various times depending on the session dates and should be submitted as a single PDF to the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs (vpfacultyaffairs@utk.edu). Applications should consist of:
- A brief statement (2-3 pages) that includes the following:
- Your name, title, department, and college
- The term in which you wish to attend the program (summer, fall, or spring)
- The year you expect to be considered for tenure or the year in which you received tenure at UTK
- What you hope to gain from participating in the program and how your participation will allow you to achieve your professional goals
- What you will bring to the NFCDD program cohort
- Statements indicating (1) your willingness to provide the Provost’s Office with feedback about your experiences when you complete the program and (2) your willingness to initiate some sort of programming after your participation to enhance and support faculty and/or graduate student development at UTK.
- Endorsement letter from your department head, program director, or mentor
- Endorsement letter from your college
Application Deadlines
| Session Dates | Application Deadline |
| Fall (August-November) | May 1 |
| Spring (January-April) | September 1 |
| Summer (end of May-mid August) | February 18 |
Selection of Scholarship Recipients
The Office of the Provost will charge a committee with reviewing applications and selecting recipients for the fully funded scholarships. The Office of the Provost will select recipients of the partially funded scholarships both using guidance from the committee and considering other factors such as college representation and a college’s prioritization of applications, if provided.
Those who are selected are expected to register in time to receive the priority registration tuition rate for these sessions. Information about registration deadlines can be found online at the NCFDD website.